


breathe gently

by duckiesandlemons



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 01:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7487865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckiesandlemons/pseuds/duckiesandlemons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Take a deep breath, hold my hand.  It will all pass, just continue to hold your head up high.</i>
</p><p>The world falls apart at its seams, each thread pulled out one by one and Takumi feels almost powerless to stop it.  Even if each step is painful, if each one is a blunder, he keeps pushing forward--he has promises to keep, people to meet again, and his own conflicted feelings to sort out.</p><p>(if only he wasn't injured so he could wield the Fujin Yumi again. it'd help)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the world as he wakes

**Author's Note:**

> slow burn and self-indulgence to the max the AU
> 
> AKA I don't know how to explain this AU just that there is ruined countries, a sort of post apocalyptic setting, and gratuitous class changes because of trying to hide the fact they're royalty. And Slow Burn, bc I love Slow Burn.
> 
> Even though Leo/Takumi is listed as the main pairing, it'll be a bit until Leo comes in.

When he wakes up, the castle is quiet.  He can only hear the wind through the halls and the trilling of birds, the rustle of trees and the splash of koi.  There’s no familiar footsteps, no sounds of Oboro yelling at Hinata or of Hinoka looking for her retainers.  He cannot hear the familiar bustle of servants, or the sounds of drills being run.

It is only him and the vast silence of Castle Shirasagi

Takumi forces himself up, the blanket of his futon pooling at his waist.  The sun is bright in his room, glow ethereal, and when he looks outside it is to a painted morning sky with the forms of loose clouds sponged on its backdrop.  Peaceful, it is peaceful, and Takumi gets up to start his day.  When he opens the door he’s already at the archery range, target set up and Fujin Yumi in hand.  He forms the arrow, the string, and pulls back, aims and fires.

Repeat, repeat, repeat, until the bulls eye is riddled with holes from his arrows.

Hinata and Oboro are still not here.  He has not seen Sakura, or heard Ryouma, nor has he heard the gentle voice of Mikoto.

He forms another arrow in the Fujin Yumi.

It is far too peaceful, far too quiet.  When the last arrow lands, the body of an elk falls over, squirming in its last throes of life.  Takumi thinks how they’ll eat good tonight, and wonders if the kitchens will prepare something good.  He pauses before he picks it up, hearing the soft hums from someone nearby.  It’s the first sound he’s heard, and he follows it, hypnotized.  

A lake--he remembers this lake.  It’s where she--

“Ah, Takumi, you startled me,” the voice is pleasant, like wind chimes hung outside, the notes of the ryuteki he’s heard in the court, or even the gentle notes that come from Sakura’s koto.  He’s drawn to it, it makes him relax for reasons he can’t quite pin.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were here,” his words are genuine, though he cannot find a name for her face.  Somber eyes look at him, glimmering like the ore he’s found in springs.  Takumi feels like he has said something he shouldn’t.

“It is quite alright.  I tend to come here when I need to think.  Perhaps that’s why you’re here, too?”

“No.  I was at the castle earlier, then the range, and I had been hunting when I heard you.”

“I see,” she smiles at him.  “Come join me for a bit, then.  Rest.”

“I shouldn’t--the elk I caught needs to be brought back to the castle to be cleaned.”

“By who?”

Her question catches him off guard.  Takumi frowns, “The kitchen staff, if possible.  I’d do it but--”

“...Takumi, did you see anyone today?” her eyes stare at him, pinning him as one does butterfly wings.  Takumi looks away, feeling inadequate under her stare.

“N-no.”

“Takumi...perhaps you should wake up.”

That throws him off.  Isn’t he already awake?  He remembers waking in his room at Shirasagi, remembers the painted sky and sponged clouds, the training at the archery range.  The others were there, too, certainly, just perhaps he had woken before them.

“Takumi,” she repeats again.

He shakes his head, “No way, I’m wide awake.  You’re just pulling my leg.”

“I am not.  Takumi, please, wake up?  There are others worried for you.”

He does not believe her.

“Listen--”  he pauses, eyes widening as he realizes he cannot say her name.  He recognizes her, knows her voice and how it soothes him, but her name does not come to his mind.  That can’t be, that is impossible.  To see her, to recognize her, but not remember her name when he had grown up with her?  “I...no,” he closes his eyes, head throbbing and his bow arm screaming in agony.

“Takumi.”

“No, no, I--”

“Takumi.”

This can’t be, this is not happening.  He’s awake, this isn’t a dream, but everything’s so quiet, and why does he suddenly hurt.

“ _Lord Takumi!_ ”

Takumi’s vision flares, bright light invading his eyes and he has to squint so he can see.  Oboro’s worried face is in his vision, her hair matted to her skin with blood and sweat.  It smells like a battlefield, the rot and decay of corpses filling his nose.  It makes him want to gag.

“O-Oboro?” he rasps, throat dry and cracking.  Briefly, he panics, wondering where the Fujin Yumi lies if he is here on the ground, presumably wounded.  He tries to feel around, and takes some comfort when his fingers come into contact with the familiar shape of his sacred weapon, his finger tips tickling the wings of the bow.

Oboro sobs in relief, collapsing back on her hands.  Now that Takumi knows that his weapon is nearby and that he’s not so close to the brink of death, he tries to take in how Oboro looks.  She’s breathing heavily, her robes tattered and stained.  Her face is smeared with dirt, something he hadn’t noticed when he first woken up, and she’s favoring her left arm some.  She looks like how he feels.

Takumi turns his attention to beyond.  The sky above him is gray, and the rain that falls is a light drizzle.  It’s not soothing at all.

“Thank the dawn, oh, thank the dawn,” Oboro mumbles, her words half-praises and half-slurred.  

“What...what happened--” he hisses as he tries to move, pain shooting up his arm and his head pounding.  Just like in that dream, that idyllic memory of Shirasagi.  

“A fight with some weird enemies,” Oboro is digging around in her robes, trying to find extra vulnerary.  “I...I’m sorry Lord Takumi, I’ve failed you!  I let that bastard of a swordsman get near you and--”  Oboro’s face twists into that all too familiar scowl, her grief forgotten in the anger she had felt at the one who had cut Takumi down.  Though with how he’s still breathing and the other one isn’t, he can only assume Oboro took care of that man quickly and efficiently.

“Don’t worry yourself on it, I’m still alive,” Takumi tries not to shift too much.  “I thank you.  You must have done everything you could to stop the bleeding.”

“Well...it wasn’t just me,” Oboro’s voice goes soft.  “A healer had heard my yelling, and she came running.”

“You still helped.”

“Yeah, but--”

“Hey!  He’s awake!” the voice that says this is far too loud and cheerful for the situation they’re in.  When Takumi tries to look all he sees is the black fabric of someone’s skirts--in a very obvious Nohrian fashion.  

Takumi jolts, instinctively reaching for the Fujin Yumi.  The pain stops him, arm going numb with how it sears through his body in sharp bolts.  He screams, falling back, and the Nohrian in black skirts falls to his side.  Blonde hair kept back by a clip spills over into his vision, and worried eyes peer into his.

“Sorry, did I startle you?  Don’t move, kay?  Your wounds are still healing and I only have a heal staff.”

“You--did you trick us or--”

“Oh, no, no!  We had come when we heard your friend’s shouting, and helped!”

Takumi looks to Oboro for confirmation, receiving it in the form of a terse nod.  Great, Takumi thinks, helped by Nohrians.  Then again, with what had happened, it could be worse.  He should be thankful that he managed to survive this ordeal.

“I thank you,” he says.  “As the second prince of Hoshido, how can I repay you for your kindness?”

The Nohrian, a girl now that he gets a better look at her, gasps.  “P-Prince?” she sounds far too surprised.  He’s pretty sure even Nohrian commoners have heard of him.

“Yes.  Is that a problem?”

“No, I was thinking it’s my lucky day!” the girl’s expression quickly changes to that of excitement.  “Effie went out to find some food, but when she gets back I’ll tell you _everything_ I know!  Oh, and--”  She can’t say anything else, too distracted by the sound of someone calling out to them.

“Lady Elise!  We need to move, now!” it’s the bellowing voice of a woman, dressed in the leather of a fighter and a worn ax in her hand.  

“Wait, but he’s--”

“I’ll protect him, don’t worry!” Oboro is moving to stand as well, and Takumi finally notices that the end of her naginata had broken off.  The blade is jagged, almost useless, but Oboro’s determination shows clear in her eyes.  Takumi can’t stay idle, not when he feels around for the Fujin Yumi and grasps it in his palm when he (thankfully) finds it resting close.

“You said you had a heal staff?” he asks.  The girl nods, already pulling the staff off from her back.  “Just heal me up as much as you can one more time--I can’t let you all fight alone.”

“We’re not fighting!” the lady fighter says when she approaches.  “There’s too many, we have to move now while we can.  We got this far, Lady Elise, I’m not gonna have it end here because of some--”

“Effie!” the girl, Elise, is frowning.  “I understand how you feel but we can’t just leave them alone!  We’ll go together!  Besides...this is Prince Takumi.”

Effie double takes, eyes darting between Elise and him.

“...really…”

“Look, we don’t have much time, let’s hurry and start moving so we can take them on somewhere that gives us a tactical advantage!”  Takumi thinks of the forests not too far from here, where the thick growth will make it hard for anyone to find them.  Elise nods, holding her staff out.  The pounding in his head stops, but there’s still the pain in his arm.  It’s a dull pulse, but he can deal with it for now.  As long as he’s well enough to draw the Fujin Yumi, he won’t be a lame duck in the middle of battle.

They don’t even get halfway there before the first of the enemies that he and Oboro had fought off earlier strike.  It’s Effie who takes the first hit, blocking the sweep of a spear and effortlessly pushing the weapon aside to deliver a punishing blow.  From there, Oboro backs her up, catching the blades of swordsman and tossing them aside as if they were nothing.  Any injury or scrape they suffered that looked crippling fades as soon as Elise starts working her magic.

Takumi waits for his chances, dodges strikes and aims, bringing his arm up to form that familiar arrow between his fingers and pulls--

Pulls--

The pain is sudden, piercing harder than the most powerful of spears.  The hoarse yelp from his throat is enough to alert everyone, and it’s with horror as he watches the arrow shoot only to fizzle away.  

“ _Lord Takumi!_ ” Oboro’s voice is shrill, his retainer rushing to his side almost immediately to block an attack coming his way.  “ _Lord Takumi, your arm--_ ”

“ _One more time!_ ”  he shouts back.  Once again he aims, forms that arrow and string, and pulls, only for the same thing to happen as well.  The Fujin Yumi is useless, he’s useless, because of his arm and his own carelessness against this unknown enemy earlier--these enemies that they can barely even _see_.  Damn it--

Damn it--

He’s not going to let it be like this.  The next person that attacks him is a swordsman, and it’s all Takumi needs.  It’s a struggle to disarm them, sped up by a quick thinking Oboro, and Takumi’s picking the enemy’s sword up and parrying an oncoming attack.  It puts pressure on his arm that makes him snarl in pain, but it is nothing compared to when he tried to fire the Fujin Yumi.  Oboro still sticks close, keeping an eye on him, but Takumi is quick and precise in his strikes.  He is not a master like Ryouma when it comes to blades, but Takumi knows his way around one enough that he can fight in battle if he has to.

He wishes that it had been under slightly different circumstances that he had picked up this blade, however.

“Keep moving towards the forest!” he commands.  “We’ll lose them there!”

There’s noises of agreement, and it’s from there that their advance starts.  It is almost too slow, too brutal, and Takumi’s arm is protesting from each swipe he parries or each hit he blocks, muscle shaking and wounds crying out.  Takumi perseveres, keeping the push going until they all break through the treeline and start moving as fast as they can.  Takumi cannot hear those invisible enemies following him, and he can only thank the Dawn Dragon for that.

“Go, go, Lady Elise, we’re almost there!”

“But I’m tired!”

“We can’t rest just yet!”

Effie is right.  They can’t, and Takumi keeps pushing his weak body forward best he can until finally they all collapse at some unknown point in the forest.  Takumi collapses against the base of one of the trees, hand coming up to clutch at his shoulder.  The fabric of his clothing sticks to his skin, peeling away as he plucks at it to see the extent of his wound.

“Miss Oboro, let me help you--”

“I’m fine, Lord Takumi--”

“Oboro,” his voice is firm, “let Elise tend to you.  I saw you take a pretty nasty hit back there.”

Oboro goes quiet, presumably to let Elise start healing her.  Effie sits down across from him, leaning back and eyes closed, and hair spilling sloppily over her shoulders.  “Don’t feel right without my armor,” she mumbles.  “Going to be hard to find food after all that, too.  Gee.”  

It could be worse, Takumi thinks, but he stays quiet so he can try and recollect his thoughts.  The Fujin Yumi sits next to him, as does the iron sword he had stolen from their enemy.  His shoulder and arm are injured enough to where he can’t wield a bow, but he can push through using a sword.  When he woke up, it was just Oboro, and the world seems to be in shambles.

_What’s happening?_

“Oboro, where’s Hinata?” he asks, turning his head so he can look at her.  She’s hunched over, one of her sleeves ripped off and being tied tight around her leg.  Elise’s staff is propped next to her spear.

“I...don’t know,” Oboro admits, body still tense even after Elise finishes bandaging her up.  “Lord Takumi, do you...do you remember anything before you woke up?”

 _What a stupid question, of course he does_ , but when he tries to think of things past his dreams--like perhaps the attack that had wounded him--he can only think of idyllic Shirasagi and the woman whose name escapes him.  “I remember those enemies and attacks, but--” it’s bothering him.  He doesn’t know what’s going on, or why this has all happened.

“Lord Takumi...Hinata was separated from us when Castle Shirasagi was invaded,” Oboro’s face is twisted in anguish, the grief warring with the anger inside of her, “He went to go help Lady Sakura, but everything was too much.”

“That sounds like what happened in Nohr,” Elise says.  “Castle Krakenberg was invaded and we were forced to flee.”

“Nohr fell, too?”

That doesn’t sound right.  That doesn’t sound right at all--Shirasagi invaded and felled?  While Ryouma still breathes?  Even Nohr had fallen to these invisible enemies, which Takumi finds just as doubtful.  When they could fight them so easily, when sheer numbers don’t make the victory, and their soldiers so well trained--

“Yeah,” Elise’s eyes soften.  Takumi, even though he’s known her for only a short while, finds it disheartening that she doesn’t hold any of the cheer she greeted him with earlier.  He just has that feeling that happiness is what suits her best.  “Everyone got separated--it was a coup from inside the castle, and it caught everyone off guard, my family,” Elise shakes her head.  “That’s why I’m really happy I found you!”

Takumi arches an eyebrow, “So you healed me for some ulterior purpose?”

“Don’t accuse Lady Elise of that!” Effie snaps.  “She did it out of the kindness of her heart!  We could have left you behind!”

“Don’t speak to Lord Takumi like that!” Oboro is getting up, the two women ready to fight, only to stop as Elise squirmed between them.

“No, no--maybe,” she’s frowning.  “I wanted to help you, I did.  Being in pain isn’t fun, especially with...all of this.”

Takumi tries to move to make himself a bit more comfortable.  There’s a lot Elise isn’t telling him.  There are words she leaves out, and certain parts of her story she skips all together.  She has a history with the castle, and with how Effie treats her, Elise isn’t just some servant or lowly healer in the army.  “...I do owe you for saving my life,” he says.  “I am not going to let what you did go without favor.”

“T-thank you!” Elise lunges forward to hug him, aborting when she remembers his shoulder and arm.  “Uhm...I’m looking for my siblings.  I know they had to scatter, as well, and I know they’re not the type to die.”

“So you want to find them--I doubt they’d be in Hoshidan territory like you--”

“No...I don’t really know where they are,” Elise sighs.  

“There’s more, too, isn’t there.”

Elise nods, “But...I don’t know if it will help any.”  At this point, he’s not sure what any extra knowledge she gives him will benefit their situation.  Four people, alone in the forest, having just outran invisible enemies that could come at any moment.  Nohr fell to a coup from the inside, and Hoshido fell due to...circumstances he can’t remember, and that Oboro doesn’t know enough on.  He’d have to look for his own siblings, and while initially he’d refuse Elise’s request it’s better to stick in numbers.  Especially with him unable to wield the Fujin Yumi and their weapons not the best.  Oboro’s spear is broken, and the iron sword he had stolen has seen better days.  Effie’s axe looks ready to snap in half, and with the power she swings it with it won’t last any longer.  There’s also only so many uses Elise’s staff has, and he’s sure a good amount of its power has been used on him.

“First thing first, my arm,” he points to it, ignoring the dried blood flaking off and the tatters of his clothes.  “How bad is it?”

Elise purses her lips, “It’s better...Oboro had stopped as much as she could, and the wound didn’t look too bad but...it’ll take a long time to heal.  If I had a mend…”

Takumi groans in frustration, slamming the back of his head against the tree trunk.  He’d be unable to wield the Fujin Yumi, reduced to this iron sword that he can only properly wield with one hand.  The two handed grip Ryouma taught him would be useless now, the strain on his arm not allowing it to heal properly.  

“We’re going to have to do something,” he says.  “I’m also going to need to look for my siblings and my other retainer, and you’re looking for yours.”

The glow that returns in Elise’s eyes helps Takumi think that this is all going to be okay.

“So I’ll help, and we’ll go where we need to and get what we need.  I think some of the nearby border villages should be okay, so, Elise, tell me your real name.”

Elise nods, tears tickling at the corners of her eyes as she answers, “Princess Elise, the second princess of Nohr!  And this is Effie, my best friend and one of my retainers!  Thanks so much, Prince Takumi!”

Of course, Takumi thinks once Elise gives him her full title.  He’d be stuck with the youngest of the Nohrian royal family.  Beggars can’t be choosers, and his situation could be worse.

“You okay with this, Oboro?” he asks.

Oboro’s scowl hasn’t gone away, but she nods, “I’ll follow you wherever we need to go, Lord Takumi.  I’ll do my best to make it work.”

“Good, it’s all I can ask.”

That’s enough to make Oboro ease up.

“Let’s find Hinata together,” Takumi continues, slowly getting up.  “And let’s try and make our way to one of the border villages.”  He takes off the fur wrapped around his waist, wrapping the Fujin Yumi up in it.  With that tucked under his arm, he grabs the sword sitting next to him.  Oboro has already grabbed her spear, handing Elise her staff, and Effie has pushed herself up as well.

“Uhm...Lord Takumi,” Effie starts, “I hate to make us start off late but...I’m kinda hungry, think we can go hunting.”

“...yeah, that’s actually a good idea.  Let’s see what we can scrounge up.”

Effie’s smile is small, but it’s a step in the right direction.  Takumi can only hope this can all work out properly.


	2. the world as it is now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new world forces new changes, and Takumi tries to grasp for a silver lining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter got too long and next one looks to be longer still RIP

When Takumi dreams of Shirasagi this time, he’s sitting at the dinner table.  There’s food in front of him, fresh from the kitchens, and his chopsticks are in his hand.  Yet, just like before, the castle is quiet.  He is not surrounded by his siblings, nor is he with Mikoto.  The only person with him, sitting across from him, is that woman.

“You’re back,” her voice is pleasant, as if excited by his presence, but Takumi sees in her eyes that familiar sorrow from his first dream.

That pity she tries to hide.

“Should I not be?” he asks.  “This seems to be my dream, and I must be pretty homesick.”

“Forgive me,” she closes her eyes.  “It’s just...you’re not supposed to be here.  You should wake up.”

It’s just like before.

“You make it sound like this dream means I’m close to death.”

His companion doesn’t say anything.  Her silence is almost unnerving, and he wonders what her relationship to him had been in the past for him to be so at ease with her despite not even knowing her name.  “That sounds like a yes,” he places his chopsticks down, leaning back on his hands.  

“...not exactly,” she says.  “It’s just...being here isn’t good.”

“Why not?”

“Perhaps next time when we meet again.”

“Hey--”

She smiles at him, her expression surprisingly grim.  It brings to mind the cemeteries of Hoshido, hauntingly beautiful.  

“Goodbye, Takumi.”

His eyes open slowly, taking in the muted light filtering through the thick foliage of the trees.  Oboro is leaned against him, her breathing even, and Effie is tending to the small fire they had started.  Elise is curled up, asleep on her lap, and the only noise that he can hear besides the crackle of the fire is the quiet chirps of far off birds.  In any other circumstances, it’d be considered peaceful.

“Mornin’, Lord Takumi,” Effie greets.  

“Good morning.”

Effie doesn’t make any move to get up, mindful of Elise.  A dutiful retainer, just like Oboro, and Takumi wonders if Elise had been separated from others like they had been separated from Hinata.  

“Sleep okay?  You were kind of restless.”

Takumi doesn’t know how to answer that, since he can’t quite explain his dreams.  Effie doesn’t know Shirasagi, and she’d only think that he’d be homesick.  He is homesick, a fact he won’t deny, but there’s more important things to worry about over missing his home and what he once had.

“Just worried about how we’re going to get supplies,” he says.  “I know I suggested border villages but I don’t even know any nearby.  I don’t even know where we are.”

Effie doesn’t say anything, just pulls out the meat she had been grilling in the fire from their kill last night.

Breakfast.  

Takumi accepts what she offers, murmuring his thanks.  It’s a few more minutes of silent eating, Oboro having stirred awake at some point and also accepting meat from Effie, though her face still held suspicion.

“Well...I think we’re close to the Bottomless Canyon...so we’re probably close to Nohr,” Effie says.  “The air here is heavier, and the forest is getting darker.”

“Great,” Oboro’s face is sour.  This isn't going to be a good trip for her at all, Takumi realizes.  They're going straight to the country that's ruined her family, even if she said she'd follow.  

It won't be good for them in other ways, either.  The people of Nohr most likely want a scapegoat to blame for their country's sudden collapse and who better to blame?  Nohr and Hoshido have always had a shaky peace between them, and this is just the tipping point for both countries.  Takumi doesn't want to be in Nohr either, but they have no other choice.  They need better weapons, actual supplies, and any remaining town will have those.

Ideally, if he were in a better position, he’d start gathering forces in Hoshido to help take back Shirasagi and search for his family.  Right now, it’s just him and Oboro, the second princess of Nohr and her retainer, and he can’t even properly pull the Fujin Yumi due to a slow healing injury.  Takumi prays that Elise gets the staff she needs so he can heal faster.  

Unconsciously, his hand goes to rest on top of his fur wrap resting at his side, where the Fujin Yumi is still wrapped up.  It’ll have to remain that way until they have a better means of carrying their equipment, such as a horse with a saddle bag or a small wagon.  

“Oh...are we getting ready to move?” Elise’s words are sleep muddled, her movements sluggish as she gets up.

“After you eat,” Takumi says.  “Effie thinks that we’re closer to the Bottomless Canyon and Nohr.  If we keep on pushing through these woods then maybe we might find something worthwhile.”

“That’d be great!  Oooh, I can’t wait until we get to a town and a decent bed!” Elise giggles, though it stops short.  “Wait...I don’t think we should show that we’re royalty…”

Takumi can understand himself, but he wonders why Elise, as well.  Though she had said the castle had fallen to a coup, and if there were any royal children left then there’d be a manhunt.  Invisible enemies, power hungry nobles, Takumi is already wanting for this to end.  He’d much rather find his siblings, first, but their band is too small to deal with the enemies plaguing Hoshido right now.  Besides, Ryouma and Hinoka and Sakura, they’re strong.  Stronger than him, who can’t even wield the Fujin Yumi because of an injury, and who can’t even remember the events that led to where he is now.

There’s an uncomfortable gap in his memories between when he first woke up in this forsaken world and before everything went to hell.  He can remember certain things before that gap, such as talking with Queen Mikoto about his patrols or training with Ryouma when his brother had time.  He can remember teasing Sakura a bit at dinner, and hearing Hinoka run through the last drills with her Sky Knights.  Yet after that he cannot remember anything.

It’s all infuriatingly blank.

“We’ll have to disguise ourselves,” Takumi pushes all these thoughts about his missing memory to the back of his mind.  There’s no time for ruminating, not when they need to hurry.  “And if we’re going to enter Nohrian territory then Nohrian we’ll look.”

“Lord Takumi...how?  Even if we changed clothes we still look like we’re from Hoshido.”

Oboro’s point is valid.

Takumi grits his teeth.

“I know...we’ll probably have to cut our hair,” he doesn’t want to, “change how we speak...maybe pass off as a band of mercenaries.”  He’ll never reduce himself to masquerading as a brigand.  He will never stoop that low, even in a world of ruin.

Oboro still doesn’t look convinced, “...yeah, sure, but Lord Takumi, I’m not going to cut your hair.”

“I’ll do it myself--”

“No way.”

Takumi’s about to tell her there’s no other way when Effie clears her throat.  It brings their attention back to her and Elise, the two watching them with thoughtful stares.  “Y’know,” Elise starts, “I don’t understand what’s so important about long hair for you guys, butif you don’t wanna cut it  you could braid it.”

Effie nods, “That’s not unusual among some warriors in Nohr.  If it gets too long for them, they just tie it up or something.  It’s easier than cutting.”

That’s...Takumi prefers that much more.  Oboro also seems to approve of this.  Her hand is already out, eyes expectant.  

“...what?”

“Lord Takumi, your hair tie, please?”

“Shouldn’t we wait until we at least get out of here or--”

“Nuh-uh.  Lady Elise hasn’t finished eating yet, and it’s best to do this now.”

It probably isn’t.  Takumi, however, relents, and reaches up to undo his hair tie.  The tie at the base of his ponytail is undone, as well, and Oboro is already settling behind him.  Her fingers start combing through his hair, tugging loose tangles and working out snarls best she can.  Takumi winces at each tug, trying to keep from pulling away.  There’s pain worse than this, and it’s necessary.  If only they waited to find a town, though...

“Take your time eating, Princess Elise,” he hisses at another sharp tug.  “This might...be a while.”

Oboro’s hands are quick once she gets all the tangles that she can get out, and soon enough she has Takumi’s hair tied in an almost neat braid.  

“There,” she lets go, letting it drop against his back. “I still know it’s Lord Takumi but...a regular person who doesn’t know what he looks like wouldn’t!”  There’s a bit more shuffling, Oboro moving to sit next to him.  She has his sword in hand, and she places it down to undo her own hair.

“Wait, Oboro--”

“It’s okay, Lord Takumi, it’ll grow back,” she tells him, though her smile is wry.  “I understand how important this all is--and I want to find Hinata and everyone, too.”  Her face grows dark, “Though I’m not exactly thrilled about blending in with Nohrian sc--”  She stops herself, and instead reaches for his sword.  Oboro says something about getting it trimmed properly when they have a decent pair of scissors, but Takumi doesn’t hear her.

Not when he’s too focused on the blade cutting her hair, the cut locks falling to the forest floor and Oboro’s hair coming to frame her face.  She’s grimacing, but with the deed done she looks like she had lifted an entire weight off her shoulders.

Elise and Effie had stayed quiet through it all.

“...fire’s dying out,” Effie says after a few more moments.  “We should start heading out.”

“A good idea.”

Effie kicks dirt over the fire when she stands, and Elise walks to Oboro and asks--innocently--if she could touch her hair.  Oboro looks at war with herself, but eventually agrees.  Elise’s touch is delicate, fingers brushing against the soft ends of Oboro’s shorn hair.

“...you could’ve braided it like Prince Takumi’s,” Elise comments.

“I could have, but this is faster!  It’ll grow back quick.”

Takumi isn’t convinced.  He knows Oboro just as well as she knows him.  She has her reasons for cutting her hair.  Reasons that she had thought long and hard on.  Cutting hair is separating oneself from the past--something had happened in that gap of his memory, something that made Oboro choose to cut her hair and he can’t remember.

It’s driving him mad.

“Lord Takumi?” Effie’s voice draws his attention to her.  Her expression is placid, as it mostly has been since he’s met her, yet Takumi can see the questioning gaze underneath.

“...I’m fine, thinking about how we’re going to get clothes so we can blend in better.”

“Right, let me and Lady Elise handle that when we get to a town.”

Once Elise finishes eating, they start moving as quick as they can, with Effie in front clearing a path for them.  Oboro takes up the rear, and Takumi and Elise are in the middle.  Takumi still wants to know what reason Oboro has to cut her hair like that, but he does admit that with her hair no longer held up high in a long ponytail and instead resting on her shoulders she looks different.

When they have time he’ll ask, properly.  What was he doing during that gap in his memories?  What happened to everyone?  That gap is huge, a yawning gulf that daunts him.

He needs answers.

“Lord Takumi?” Oboro must have noticed him looking back at her every now and then.  “Something wrong?”

“I...nothing...just, Oboro--”

“I told you--I’ll follow you wherever you need to go!  If this makes it easier I’ll do it--it’ll grow back!”

That’s not the answer he wants.

“...Thank you again, Oboro.”

Oboro grins.  It’s definitely one of her bigger smiles since they’ve been tossed into this situation.  It’s still stretched paper thin, though.  She’s trying to let the joy from his thanks reach her, but it falls short from her grasp.  

Conversation falls pathetically short after that.

The silence of the forest is starting to become unnerving, despite Elise’s best efforts to keep up conversation after his little talk with Oboro.  She asks what Hoshido is like, Takumi answers.  What were the people like?  Kind, proud, he tells her.  And who taught you how to use the sword?  Ryouma, my--

There’s a snap, loud and deafening.  They all freeze, looking around to see who had made the noise.  It’s not one of them, Takumi just remembers the crunch of the leaves underfoot.  This is different, similar to a beast.  This is--

“ _ Look out! _ ”

Takumi pushes Elise to the ground, the two rolling out of the way of a heavy fist.  There’s a roar, inhuman and other wordly.  Takumi’s heart is pounding and he’s reaching for his sword, his fur wrap and the Fujin Yumi shoved into Elise’s arms quickly.  Effie and Oboro already have their weapons drawn, tense and ready to engage whatever may appear.

A Faceless lumbers from the tree line, and Takumi curses their luck.  The trees are almost too close, and he watches as Effie ducks beneath a hard swing of the monster’s fist.  There’s the splintering sound of wood, followed by a battle cry from Effie as she returns the blow with a solid swing of her axe

The edge of her axe meets the Faceless’ side, sending it stumbling from the sheer force of her blow--Takumi sees it as a chance..  

He goes in for a quick strike to the back of the Faceless’ legs, hoping that their physiology is still similar to humans enough that it will go toppling when struck.  He’s never had to fight them up close like this, firing from afar with his Fujin Yumi and ducking out of the way when they got too close.  

His blade scores deep, cutting along the back of the Faceless’ knees.  The Faceless wobbles, arms swinging in retaliation, forcing Takumi to roll out of the way.  Ink black seeps from the wound he’s caused, the Faceless still pressing forward despite the should be disabling wound on its legs, backing Effie into a corner as she tries to dodge everyone of its attacks.  If there’s one thing Takumi’s learned about Effie it’s that she’s strong--inhumanly so.  But her strength can’t even help her in the face of a hulking giant,  her only weapon being a worn axe that can break at any moment with her powerful swings and only leathers to protect her.

Takumi moves out of the way of another wild swing, putting himself protectively in front of Elise.  The girl is gripping his fur wrap and her staff tightly, shaking, and Takumi would have mistaken it for fear if he didn’t catch that brief glimpse of frustration in her eyes.

She feels useless, and Takumi knows that feeling all too well.  

It’s with twin shouts that Effie and Oboro take down the Faceless together.  Oboro leaps onto the Faceless’ back in a desperate lunge, the broken end of her naginata digging into the monster’s flesh as deep as she can force it.  The Faceless howls, swinging its body this way and that to try and knock her off.  Oboro holds on fast, trying to not be flung off.  The Faceless turns enough that its back is presented to Effie, the wound Takumi inflicted bared to her--

“Effie, cut its legs!” Takumi shouts.  “Look for black!”

Effie registers what he says quickly, her axe coming down hard and cleaving through the monster’s legs with the clear sound of snapping bone and flesh.  The Faceless falls forward, and Takumi takes his chance to run forward and shove his sword straight into the monster’s chest.  The sword lodges deep, Takumi’s shoulder screams at him, and he feels someone tug him back before the full weight of the Faceless falls on top of him.

A pained yowl, similar to the screech of metal and the grind of a mill, echoes in the forest.

Takumi breathes heavily, lying on Elise as she lays sprawled beneath him.

“Y-you’re heavy!” she complains.

“I owe you my life again,” he responds.

Oboro is slowly standing up, shaky arms trying to tug her naginata out of the Faceless’ back.  “Leave it,” Takumi tells her.  “They were close to breaking, anyways.”  Which leaves Effie the only one with a weapon.  Oboro opens her mouth to protest Takumi’s decision, but says nothing.  

“Wait, here, lemme try,” and Effie is gripping the shaft of the naginata, tugging hard.  There’s the sickening sound of twisting flesh, the Faceless’ corpse twitching with each shift of the naginata.  Effie tries giving it a couple more tugs to get it out the rest of the way, but the naginata’s shaft splintes in two under her grip.  “...oops,” Effie mumbles, looking at Oboro.  “Sorry...I tried.”

Oboro is scowling, definitely not thrilled about losing her only source of attacking, but shakes her head, “It’s okay...it wasn’t going to last long.”

Effie turns her attention to him, “Lord Takumi, want me to try and get get your sword?”

“C-can you?” after witnessing Effie break Oboro’s naginata, he’s not sure if he wants her to try and pull his sword out.

“Yeah...should be able to.  Swords are a bit harder to break at the hilt.”

Effie starts pushing at the monster’s corpse, huffing with exertion, but able to roll it over.  The hilt of the worn iron sword stares at them, and Effie grabs that.  She gives it one hard tug, the blade coming free and black trickling out of the wound it had caused.

“Here ya go,” she’s handing it to him.

“Thank you.”

It leaves the obvious question of what now.  He and Oboro are standing there, one of them weaponless, his arm in obvious pain, and they’re still in the middle of the forest.  It took far too long to get that Faceless down and any more fights only risks angering old wounds--and Elise’s staff only has so many uses before the magic in it runs out.  Elise has talent in magic, it’s obvious in the fact that she’s a healer, but not even her natural magic could draw out the small amounts of power left in a used staff.

They needed to get to a town fast.

“We should keep moving, who knows what else is out here--”

“Any wounds…” Elise stops mid-sentence when he shakes his head.

“Save your staff for more threatening ones,” he tells Elise.  “We...we just need to move.”

Not that they can go any further when Elise shrieks.  There’s a light underneath her feet, Takumi recognizing it as the magic seal for an Entrap staff, and she’s dragged away to where someone is waiting to grab her. 

Takumi is already cursing his carelessness, wondering when this  _ Nohrian mage  _ had snuck up on them.  This entire world, this forsaken world, is messing with him, and they’re left with nothing else to do as the mage pulls Elise close.

“Didn’t think to find other people here,” the mage snarls.  “Take down my servant...were you hired by the village?”

Village…

“Y-you got it all wrong!” Elise gasps, squirming in the mage’s grip.  “We didn’t even know you were around--”

“Quiet!”

Elise yelps as the mage squeezes their arm around her neck, her squirming picking up.  “Stop moving!” the mage shouts.  “I won’t hesitate to burn you to death right here!”  

“You let her go!” Effie roars, storming forth, but the mage already has a fire tome out and open in place of the staff.  It takes both Takumi and Oboro to keep her back.  

Takumi’s mind is racing a mile a minute, trying to think of what to do.  Elise had dropped the Fujin Yumi and her staff when she had pulled him out of the way, and their weapons are useless.  He swallows, slowly putting his sword down.

“Look, we don’t know anything about a village near here,” he starts, “we just came into the forest to escape those...invisible enemies.”  

“...invisible enemies…”

“Yeah.  They destroyed our own town and we were barely able to escape.  We’re just trying to find help.”

There’s a terse silence, the mage staring at him with suspicion.  Takumi looks Effie, motioning for her to put her weapon down with a nod of his head.  Though reluctant, Effie complies.

“Look, we’re not going to do anything, we just need to get to somewhere safe--you’ve seen them, too, right?” Takumi keeps his eyes on the mage’s, alert and trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.  “And we just killed one of your sources of protection--even if it was a Faceless.  We’re sorry.”

“...Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Takumi relaxes some as the mage’s grip on Elise slackens.  “We know nothing about what you did, or the village, so just--”

“I don’t trust you.”

Takumi startles, “What--”  The mage hadn’t even bothered to listen to anything else Takumi had to say, and he wonders if he had done something to give his lies away.

“You can’t be simple survivors if you killed that Faceless just like that with almost broken weapons--no, you have to be hired mercenaries from the village!   I can’t take any chances.”

Elise struggles, desperately stomping her heel on the mage’s foot.  The dark mage just toughs it out, the fire spell already forming as the tome opens.  Effie is already grabbing for her axe, and Takumi is lunging for his sword.  He had thought for sure he had been so close but--

There’s a thunk, a garbled yell slipping past the mage’s lips, before they slump forward.  An arrow sticks clean from their neck, the fire tome dropping to the forest floor.  Elise drags herself out from underneath the mage, shaking, and easily grips at Effie’s arms as she’s pulled close.  Takumi looks around, trying to spot who else might be there.  He cannot deal with this, this is--

“Lord Takumi.”

A shadow drops in from above, and Takumi feels relief spread through his veins instantly.

They’ll be okay, things are going to be okay.

  
  
  



End file.
